To ask the Minister of Health whether (i) Domiciliary Care workers, employed or contracted by Health and Social Care Trusts to deliver 'at home' care packages; (ii) unpaid volunteer and family cares; and (iii) children's care homes, foster carers or kinship carers, are included within the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's definition of key workers.

The programme in Northern Ireland will be based on five phases with all care home residents & staff, all Health and Social Care workers (including domiciliary care workers) and all those aged 80 years of age and older in the first phase. This will cover around 200k individuals and is likely to run from Mid-Dec to Jan/mid-Feb 2021.

JCVI consider frontline health and social care workers who provide care to vulnerable people a high priority for vaccination. Protecting them protects the health and social care service and recognises the risks that they face in this service.

Further details regarding unpaid volunteer and family carers as well as children's care homes, foster carers or kinship carers will follow in due course.